


Glasses

by theamberissubtle



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Blushing, F/F, Honoka is an unintentional wingman, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 17:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14920019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theamberissubtle/pseuds/theamberissubtle
Summary: Honoka tries to figure out why Umi keeps staring at Eli.





	Glasses

**Author's Note:**

> I've recently finished watching Love Live! School Idol Project and I liked this couple, so here's my contribution to the pairing.

“Umi, why do you keep looking at Eli-chan?”  
  
Honoka wasn’t sure what she expected when she posed the innocent question, but it wasn’t for her friend to jump out of her skin as though she’d been caught doing something wrong, stammering incomprehensively under her inquisitive gaze. Between Honoka’s loud voice and Umi’s unintelligible stammers, the whole room broke off from their individual conversations to look over at the both of them – including Eli.  
  
Honoka, however, was oblivious to the reason behind her friend’s discomfort, continuing to study her contemplatively. Looking between Umi, sitting next to her and flapping her hands, and Eli, who was a few seats down and on the opposite side of the table, mid-conversation with Nozomi, she couldn’t quite make the connection.  
  
The whole group had broken off into sub-groups to figure out the logistics of their upcoming training camp. Honoka, Umi and Kotori were in charge of budgeting and provisions as well as designating the rotas for cooking and cleaning. It had all been going so well for once, too. Yet Honoka, unused to see her friend’s razor-sharp attention slide (especially given said friend had punished her numerous times for her own wandering eyes and flickering attention span) couldn’t help noticing her distraction. Asking _why_ she was staring at Eli wasn’t an unreasonable question so _why_ was she reacting so strangely!?  
  
Eli didn’t have anything stuck in her hair; she had just been sitting there, one hand propping up her head as she twiddled a pencil with the other, absorbed in her own task of planning the transportation with Nozomi.  
  
Umi’s mouth opened and closed, turning bright red at having everyone’s eyes on her.  
  
Honoka shrugged, exchanging a glance with Kotori who was on her other side. “Whatever. Can we have cheesecake for dessert on Tuesday as well as Mon-”  
  
Fortunately, the conversations started back up as Honoka waxed poetic about food – the rest of the group were used to the trio being a little odd anyway - but poor Umi was struggling to return to the fray, cheeks burning brightly. Traitorously, her eyes lifted back up to check the figure across the classroom.  
  
Eli was still looking at her curiously.  
  
Flushing maroon, Umi quickly averted her eyes and yanked the notes from under Honoka’s nose, ignoring her indignant squawk.  
  
“We can’t have cheesecake for the entire week, Honoka-”  
  
“Can!”  
  
“We’re meant to be dieting!”  
  
Harrumphing, Honoka folded her arms, wondering what on earth she’d done to warrant Umi’s ire – her best friend looked on edge, and she was _still_ glancing down the table. When Honoka looked over at Eli, she noticed the blonde looking over at Umi, too. Umi didn’t have anything on her face or stuck in her hair either! What was happening? Most importantly, why was _she_ the least distracted out of everyone? Why were the two most organised, responsible members _not_ doing their work?

Honoka narrowed her eyes at all the questions floating around her head and kept silent; she would figure it out by herself if Umi wouldn’t tell her. When she glanced at Kotori, who grinned benignly back at her, she thought she’d manage this one alone.  
  
She yanked the writing pad back from Umi, ready to fight for her right to have ice cream every second day at least, when she realised that the other girl wasn’t even looking at her – hadn’t even noticed the paper being snatched from her hands. Again with the staring!  
  
“Umi,” she prompted, trying to surreptitiously study Eli, too, to see what could have held her attention.  
  
The blonde ballerina looked the same as always. Namely, perfect. Shiny blonde hair was tied up without a strand out of place, her nails were shiny and manicured, her pale skin flawless. She _was_ wearing her glasses today however – aha! Glasses! That was different! Jubilant, Honoka grinned, ready to shout out her findings, before noticing that Umi was fiddling with her pen.  
  
Umi did not fidget unless she was nervous.  
  
Honoka thought some more about the evidence lining up in front of her. Be a detective! She tried to analyse the situation. There was exhibit A) Umi, looking across at Eli, exhibit B), who was wearing her glasses today (she’d told the group that she’d lost her contacts that morning). Eli didn’t usually wear glasses, which could explain Umi’s fascination. Yet her friend was blushing red at being caught staring. She wasn’t even paying attention to the work – odd in itself, she loved rules and order and yelling at Honoka – and she kept being distracted by the sight, like she couldn’t help looking over.  
  
Meanwhile Honoka’s initial exclamation had caused Eli to periodically look over, too, so Umi was constantly flickering her gaze back down to the desk, embarrassed, only to look back up a few moments later when she felt it was safe to do so.  
  
Wait, did Umi have a -  
  
“Crush,” Honoka whispered to herself, testing the word out loud and finding that it fit.  
  
A crush! Umi had a crush! Yes, her hypothesis was sound. Thinking about it logically, Umi had fought hard for Eli to join the group and teach them dancing in the first place. After that, she always seemed to stand close to her, whenever they were practicing and whenever they were simply walking around school or the city. Eli was always both playful and considerate when it came to Umi-chan. She seemed to diffuse Umi’s stress and like no one else, and in return Umi managed to draw a side out of Eli that was light, teasing and fun. They complemented one another. Now that Honoka thought about it, it seemed so obvious. It had been happening for weeks, right in front of her! The question was, did Umi know that she had a crush on Eli?  
  
So that was it: her friend had a crush. A crush who was wearing very attractive glasses.  
  
Honoka smirked. Maybe she should become a real detective, if the Idol thing didn’t work out. Or maybe she knew her best friend too well.  
  
“Listen.” Honoka leaned over to her; she was still twiddling the pencil and biting her lip. “I have a plan. After we’ve finished sorting out all this stuff, I can suggest we take a picture to honour the occasion or whatever and then you’ll have a picture of her in glasses to stare at whenever you like!”  
  
Rather than leap for joy and profusely thank her for her genius idea, Umi let the pen fall from her grip. It clattered to the floor noisily. If either of them were paying attention, they’d see Eli looking back over at them after receiving a nudge in the ribs from Nozomi.

Concerned, Honoka waved her arms in front of her glazed eyes, wondering whether she was having a stroke, but Umi managed to gulp some air and splutter for a moment or two.  
  
“What are you talking about,” she hissed, looking at both her and Kotori – who was rather surprised at being included in the accusation.  
  
“The glasses,” Honoka said slowly, wondering if Umi was bursting a blood vessel; the vein in her head was pulsating rather impressively. “You like her in glasses, right? That’s why you keep looking over there. You think she’s hot!”  
  
Now, the thing about Honoka was, she couldn’t whisper to save her life, and her sentences always increased in volume when she was excited. It just so happened that there was a lull in the room the exact moment Honoka was shouting about Eli being hot.

Silence descended upon the room.  
  
“Um,” Honoka said sheepishly, receptive to the room for once, quickly aiming to do damage control. Before she could figure out a plan, however, Umi’s face and subsequent actions were confession enough.  
  
She’d opted for letting her head fall to the desk and groaning. It was a step up from a stroke, Honoka figured, mouthing an apology across to Eli who was looking at the three of them, her expression one of … actually, she couldn’t figure out her expression.

“Let’s… talk about the campfire,” Maki said, clearly wanting to save Umi the prolonged embarrassment. Nico, for once, didn’t kick up a fuss, yanking Rin back into her chair so she was facing the group.  
  
“Yeah, we might need provisions for that!” Hanayo hurriedly said, doing her best not to stare.  
  
Bless their friends. They rallied together when needed. Or they didn’t want to suffer Umi ranting at them all when she recovered from her monetary lapse.  
  
“I hate you,” Umi was mumbling to the table, but Honoka could safely deduce she meant her and not the wooden countertop.  
  
“Whoops,” she said, apology written into her tone.  
  
“It’s okay, Umi-chan,” Kotori said, leaning over to pat her on the shoulder. “I don’t think she heard.”  
  
Honoka and Kotori looked across at Eli to check. Nozomi was whispering something into her ear, but her face was still impassive, and Honoka took the chance to lay her upper body flat on the table alongside Umi to say urgently, “I’m sorry for blurting that out but I’m right, aren’t I? I am, I know I am, and I wanted to support you-”  
  
Umi looked up from her arms. Her face had returned to a somewhat normal colour. She narrowed her eyes as though getting ready to explode, and then sighed resignedly. “Your assessment ... isn’t wrong,” she said, still embarrassed. “I appreciate you trying to be supportive, Honoka. At least I think I am.”  
  
Oh no. She was doing the defense mechanism distancing thing. Honoka haaaaaated formal Umi.  
  
“If it’s any consolation, she keeps looking over here…” she said, trying to be helpful.  
  
“That’s because you told her I thought she was hot!”

Now upright, Umi glared, their brief moment of camaraderie over.  
  
“Technically she just overheard-”  
  
“Guys, it’s okay,” Kotori tried to interject. “She really might not have heard you.”  
  
“That’s very unlikely!” Umi turned on her, and in her anger didn’t notice her own voice getting louder. “She must have heard, the whole room did, and now everything is going to be weird forever.”  
  
Honoka’s mouth dropped open as she watched Eli stand up, hesitate for a moment, then walk up behind Umi, whose entire body was twisted in the other direction to yell at her friends. Still in her full-fledged tirade, she didn’t notice her approach, and Honoka couldn’t spit out a syllable of warning if she tried.  
  
At least Umi was losing steam by this point, and her voice had lowered to simply seething as opposed to panicked shrieking, but none of that really mattered when someone was standing right there over your shoulder.  
  
“I do find her hot in glasses, as you so helpfully put it,” Umi griped, pointing a finger at Honoka. “No one else needed to know that, however. How did _you_ even know?”  
  
“You were obviously staring at her,” Honoka said, finding her voice - just clearly not when it mattered. “I became a detective!”  
  
“Well, I – yes? She’s… you know…”  
  
“Hot,” Honoka supplied, looking from Umi to Eli, trying to read her face, hoping she was helping.  
  
Eli-chan looked amused, standing with her arms folded while watching their discussion. The rest of the room had gotten quiet again, watching the scene unfold.  
  
“We all have eyes,” Umi hissed defensively.  
  
“You’re attracted to her,” Kotori stated, cottoning onto Honoka’s plan and trying to help, too.  
  
Umi’s blush deepened but she didn’t deny it. Honoka figured she couldn’t. Umi might be a lot of things, but dishonest was not one of them, even when it would spare her the attention.  
  
“The thing is,” Eli said, finally interrupting after watching Umi try to force out words. “I’m flattered, Umi-chan.”  
  
This time, rather than jump out of her skin, Umi looked like she was experiencing a slow, painful death, her eyes closing shut as she realised what she’d said over the last several minutes.  
  
Honoka was worried she’d fade into a wisp of smoke.  
  
“Can we talk?” Eli asked her, voice soft. “Privately.”  
  
Though she was trying to be her usual calm and collected self, she was shifting from one leg to the other, her fingers tapping her arms. That’s how Honoka knew she was nervous, too.  
  
“The roof is on the fifth floor, right?” Umi said weakly and without humour.  
  
Yeesh, her friend was so dramatic, Honoka thought, rolling her eyes.  
  
“Trust me, that won’t be necessary,” Eli assured her.  
  
Unable to think of anything else to say or do, Umi stood up obediently and followed Eli out the door.    
  
Nozomi raised an amused eyebrow at Honoka as though they were co-conspirators. Unable to sit still, and also to stop her from gluing her face to the window to watch their discussion, she plonked herself in the empty seat beside Nozomi as whispers broke out around the room.  
  
“What is happening?” she demanded. “Eli likes Umi, too, right?”  
  
Nozomi laughed and showed her a card, which Honoka could find no meaning in – a shooting star? Rolling her eyes, she prodded for a straight answer. “You’re her best friend you should know these things.”  
  
“Eli is having the afternoon of her life, trust me. To think she didn’t want to wear the glasses at all! All she needed was a bit of encouragement.”  
  
Chortling, she flipped over another card. Honoka glowered at how calm and vague she was being. On Umi’s behalf, she was in a state of high alert, as a best friend should be, but Nozomi was cool as a cucumber, smirking to herself. Before she could open her mouth to chastise her lack of ire, Eli walked back in, her cheeks redder than usual, very much noticeable on her pale skin, with a secretive smile on her face. Honoka jumped out of her seat, watching for Umi… who didn’t follow.  
  
She bounded outside without a second thought, glancing down the corridor this way and that. Her friend _was_ dramatic enough to go to the top floor and mope -  
  
Umi was standing beside the classroom door, face hidden in her hands, steam practically pouring from her ears.  
  
“Umi…”  
  
When Umi lifted up her face, she was grinning - a little manically truth be told.  
  
“So?” Honoka asked impatiently, bouncing on the tips of her feet. If Eli and Umi were both smiling, surely it meant good things, but perhaps her best friend had finally snapped and she was instead on the verge of hysteria.  
  
“She.. I…”  
  
The suspense was killing her! Screw being a detective, she thought, tempted to shake her by the shoulders. This tension wasn’t good for her health, either.  
  
“Did you kiss?” she demanded, not able to take it anymore. “Did you, did you?”  
  
“Honoka-”  
  
“Not yet,” Eli interrupted, appearing at the door. “But we are going for coffee.”  
  
Honoka beamed – and squealed. Best case scenario then! “You should keep the glasses on,” she told Eli sagely, thinking that she was doing Umi a favour even as Umi glared daggers at her.  
  
“They may become a regular part of my wardrobe,” Eli considered, winking when Umi’s eyes met hers.  
  
Honoka figured that was her cue to leave them to staring contest out there in the corridor. Clapping her hands together, she considered her unintentional good deed for the day done. Upon re-entering the club room, she gave the group a cheerful thumbs up and all the faces grinned back at her – and each other. Apparently that romantic entanglement was more obvious than Honoka suspected. Detective license properly revoked. When she collapsed back in her seat and yawned, Kotori patted her on the shoulder. They exchanged a pleased smile.

Getting her friend a date with her crush was more tiring than singing and dancing practice. Perhaps a reward was in order…  
  
“Quick, while she’s outside all distracted, make sure to fill out the dessert section on all seven days …”  
  
“Please don’t change, Honoka-chan,” Kotori giggled, and Honoka had no idea what she meant by that.


End file.
